


you gotta keep your head up

by karalovesallthegirls



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Brotp, F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-30
Updated: 2018-11-30
Packaged: 2019-09-01 05:32:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16758922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karalovesallthegirls/pseuds/karalovesallthegirls
Summary: It's still Luthor Corp when they meet.orA small Lena & Alex brOTP fic





	you gotta keep your head up

**Author's Note:**

  * For [battenthecrosshatches](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=battenthecrosshatches).



It’s still Luthor Corp when they meet.

Metropolis is still Lena’s home, Superman is the only cape clad Kryptonian flying about, and Lex has just become the monster history will know him to be. The minute they announce her succession Alex requests a spot on her security detail. No way can she pass up on a chance to assess just how much of a threat the newest Luthor CEO will be to aliens. To Kara.

And as far as Kara is concerned, Alex is at a scientific convention representing her totally real lab job. Alex will fly in to Metropolis, help run security at the ceremony announcing Lena Luthor as the new CEO of the most openly anti-alien corporation on earth, and be home for dinner on Monday. Easy peasy.

The event, of course, barely makes it to its opening introductions before a somewhat explosive situation occurs by the front entrance. They have to cordon off the entire block to continue, and the protestors outside become even more agitated when they are directed further away. There’s a healthy mix of pro and anti alien protestors, all frustrated, all screaming for Lena’s resignation, death, or a combination of both options. She’s an alien sympathizer, she’s another Lex in waiting, she’s evil no matter which side of the road she falls on and they are all furious about it.

When they are finally able to begin, Alex takes position stage right of Lena, close enough to jump her if need be while far enough to have a mostly unnoticed view of the audience.

She can see how small Lena looks at the podium even with her heels and high ponytail. She can see the slight shake in her hand as she grabs on to it for a moment to steady herself before beginning her speech. She can see the slightest flinch when someone in the crowd yells a slurry of curses at her and throws a drink that luckily doesn’t make it to stage before they’re quickly tackled by her security team.

Lena pauses for just as long as it takes to drag the man away before continuing her speech as if it had never occurred. After which she smiles, thanks the audience, and allows Alex and a few other guards to escort her backstage.

Now, Alex knows a lot about Lex Luthor.

She makes a point to learn as much as she can about people who might hurt her sister, so needless to say she has a sizable dossier compiled on this particular bastard. Lex is an imposing, enigmatic figure that everyone has some opinion on.

That’s what has made meeting Lena so jarring. She almost expected a female Lex, that same imposing arrogance and self-righteous will. What she gets is... a kid.

Younger than Kara, with a young face and old eyes. Immaculately dressed with her head held high looking almost like a girl in costume. Pretending to be older, harder, world weary - though, perhaps not pretending on that last one.

The facade is most obvious the moment they get to the back room and Lena just collapses fully on to the bench, shaking and breathing heavy, and Alex’s years coaxing a small alien refugee through panics guides her as she guides Lena through it.  
  
It takes nearly five minutes for her breathing to slow, for her to realize the panicked tears she’s shed in front of this stranger.  
  
“I’m sorry,” she says, again and again, “I’m just so tired. I’m sorry, for everything. I don’t- I don’t know how to do this anymore.”

And her eyes are shining and wide, her lip quivering and bite-marked, and all Alex can see is that scrawny little alien girl she met so many years ago.  
  
Great. Just what she needs.

Taking a slow breath, Alex places an arm around Lena’s shoulder and says,  
  
“Do you want to get outta here? There’s a half decent bar two blocks away and I feel like you and I could both use a drink.”  
  
Lena sniffles hard, sits up straight. Wipes at her eyes and nose in embarrassment.  
  
“I’m… flattered,” she says, diplomatically, “but I’m.. I’m really not looking to date, right now, and I don’t think it would be professional-”  
  
Alex cuts off her painfully polite rejection with a stuttering yell of,  
  
“Oh my god, no! I wasn’t- I’m not like that, I wasn’t asking you out!” she has to take a moment to regroup, “You just look like you could use a drink, and I know I could.”  
  
Lena looks at her like she doesn’t quite believe her, but something in Alex’s face must win her over, as not even an hour later they find themselves in some back alley bar with Alex trying to teach a surprisingly clumsy Lena how to play darts.  
  
She ends up framing a giggling, tipsy Lena against her chest and helping to guide her throws, and she’s half sure Lena’s messing up on purpose but she tries to teach her regardless.  
  
Lena turns to look at her and their faces bump, and the way she looks at Alex is confusing and unsettling and Alex really doesn’t know what’s going on until Lena mumbles, “Are you sure this isn’t a date?” real quietly, like she’s just about to lean in, and every nerve ending in Alex’s body shoots off at once and she almost knocks their table over in her haste to jump away.  
  
“No!” she says, loud and panicked in a way this situation doesn’t warrant, and she’s stumbling over her words when she sees the hurt look in Lena’s eyes and says, “I’m sorry, I’m not- I’m not _gay_. You just remind me so much of my sister.”  
  
That at least gets that sad look from Lena’s face, earns her a loud snorting laugh.  
  
“Okay yeah, if this wasn’t a date before it’s definitely not one now that you played the sister card.”  
  
She takes another swig of beer and smiles, and Alex thinks it’s really quite nice to see Lena smile.  
  
“Alright, well now that we’ve finished this parlor game you wanna go get your ass kicked at pool?”  
  
Alex audibly gasps, shakes her head.  
  
Nevermind, she’s about to wipe that smile right off Lena Luthor’s smug face.

* * *

They exchange numbers after that night, and Alex gets on a plane to National City the next morning. She forgets about their bar night, forgets about even putting Lena Luthor in her phone, until one day months down the line her phone buzzes and she sees:

_Lena Luthor [6:09 PM]  
lex tried to kill me_

Alex calls her immediately.

It’s a bit odd, talking on the phone with the virtual stranger. Lena is stiff and distant, repeating what happened in a distanced tone that only makes Alex more concerned. When Alex asks if Lena needed her to do something, she’s met with only silence. She pulls the phone away after a moment to make sure that the call hasn’t dropped entirely before Lena finally says, “I don’t know. I guess I just didn’t know who else to tell.”

* * *

They don’t talk on the phone much but Alex does make a point to start texting Lena somewhat regularly, because it is painfully clear that she has no one on her side. They’re mostly just check in texts, once or twice a week, sometimes little reminders that she needs to go home to sleep at night and not just stay in her office.  
  
It’s a small friendship, uneventful and carefully compartmentalized. Then Kara saves her plane and Supergirl is born.  
  
She gets home early in the morning, stressed and nauseous at the door her sister has so thoughtlessly opened, and she sees she has one text from Lena.

 _Lena Luthor [4:35 AM]  
_ _saw your city got its own superhero_  
  
Alex knows this is a pretty defining moment. She likes Lena, thinks she’s an okay person who got a shit hand in life, but this is an issue beyond what Alex does or doesn’t like. Lena’s reaction is a make or break thing.

 _‘yeah. I dunno how i feel about it,’_ Alex sends.

Lena types, erases, types again.  
  
Alex’s entire body stiffens as she waits, remains rigid until finally:

 _Lena Luthor [4:36 AM]_  
_I think it’s really nice, honestly_  
  
_Lena Luthor [4:36 AM]_  
_I always wondered if Superman was lonely being the only one_

 _Lena Luthor [4:36 AM]_  
_it’s probably a relief to know he’s not alone_  
  
_Lena Luthor [4:37 AM]_  
_I’m almost a little jealous_  
  
It’s unexpected, and it should make her feel better, but all it really does is make her chest feel tight.

* * *

They grow closer, to the point where Alex texts Lena nearly as much as Kara. A part of her wants to see Lena again, even introduce her to Kara, but there’s something about their text-based friendship that feels delicate. Like one strong wind will blow her carefully crafted world away.

Then Maggie comes along, and Alex doesn’t stand a chance.

* * *

 _Lena Luthor [9:50 AM]_  
_I’m moving to National City :)_

 _Alex Danvers [12:14 PM]  
__I’m gay_  
  
_Lena Luthor [12:14 PM]_  
_????? Because I'm moving?_

 _Alex Danvers [12:14 PM]  
__Sorry that’s unrelated._  
_Kinda just figured it out and freaking out._  
_Congrats on the move!_

_Lena Luthor [12:14 PM]  
lol thanks? Also glad you figured out what was obvious the second I met you._

_Alex Danvers [12:14 PM]_  
what  
  
_Lena Luthor [12:14 PM]  
_ _seriously? you radiate lesbian energy. I thought you wanted to fuck when we first met  
__  
Alex Danvers [12:14 PM]  
__????????????????????????????????????????? WHAT_  
  
_Lena Luthor [12:14 PM]_  
_lol_

* * *

L-Corp arrives and Lena’s shuttle is attacked and Alex still doesn’t go to see her. She feels kind of bad about it, but Lena hasn’t initiated a meeting either. Maybe she feels the same worry that Alex does. Maybe she doesn’t want anything more than texts. Regardless, they continue to text daily and never meet, even as they live within a few miles of each other. 

* * *

_Lena Luthor [4:05 PM]  
_ _Is your sister a CatCo employee who is friends with Clark Kent?_

 _Alex Danvers [4:05 PM]_  
_Oh god. what did she do?_

 _Lena Luthor [4:05 PM]_  
_Came to interview me in my office today!_  
_She’s very nice_

 _Alex Danvers [4:05 PM]_  
_I s2g if you hit on my sister I will kill you_  
  
_Lena Luthor [4:05 PM]_  
_I am not gonna flirt with your sister_  
  
_Lena Luthor [4:06 PM]_  
_but unrelated - is she single?_  
  
_Lena Luthor [4:06 PM]_  
_(:_

 _Alex Danvers [4:06 PM]_  
_I can arrest you you know_  
  
_Lena Luthor [4:07 PM]  
_ _Sorry can’t talk, your sister’s calling_

* * *

Déjà vu hits in a bad sort of way as she stands in the crowd gathered for the L-Corp opening ceremony. She watched Lena and Kara walk up together earlier and didn’t approach, didn’t make Lena aware of her presence at all until they accidentally made eye contact.  
  
Lena gives her a small, genuine smile and Alex winks and smiles back in what she hopes is reassuring. Even after all this time she can still see the little nervous tells in Lena as her speech begins.  
  
And just like last time, some asshole on a mission tries to kill her.

Alex only just manages to drag the gun away just as Corben fires at Lena. She falls into the dance of fighting, grappling and throwing and she’s nearly got him when he grabs his gun up again, grabs her, and for a single moment she thinks she’s really about to be murdered in front of Kara when she feels the shot reverberate.

Only it doesn’t hit her. It hits him.

And there above her is Lena, gun still aimed and face stoic, and she lets out a shaky laugh.

“I figure its my turn to protect you, right?” Lena says.

* * *

Their friendship evolves again, and Lena is suddenly a presence in her life as much as Kara. She’s at game nights, shared meals, even family events. Lena gets absorbed pretty seamlessly into their friend group and Alex is glad. It’s nice to have all the people she protects in one place.  
  
The only thing that’s weird is just how close Lena and Kara are; they’re closer than Alex expected they’d be, all things considered. She’s pretty sure they hang out together more than either do with her. If she had more free time to consider it, she might be jealous, but so much of her life is taken up by work and Maggie and the times they do share together are more than enough.  
  
Alex is happy, and she’s pretty sure Lena is, too.  
  
It’s nice.

* * *

 _Lena Luthor [9:05 PM]  
_ _hey baby what are you wearing?_

 _Alex Danvers [9:07 PM]_  
_a fucking flak jacket omfg lena_  
  
_Lena Luthor [9:07 PM]  
_ _FUCK_

 _Lena Luthor [9:07 PM]  
_ _SORRY ALEX_

 _Lena Luthor [9:07 PM]  
_ _I USED SPEECH TO TEXT IT ONLY PICKED UP DANVERS GOD I M SO SORRY_

 _Alex Danvers [9:07 PM]_  
You sext using speech to text you fuckin weirdo?  
  
_Alex Danvers [9:07 PM]_  
_wait_  
  
_Alex Danvers [9:07 PM]_  
_who are you sexting named danvers?_  
  
_Alex Danvers [9:08 PM]_  
_lena?_  
  
_Alex Danvers [9:10 PM]_  
_LENA_

* * *

Alex changed her mind. She’ll never know happiness again.


End file.
